Xbox 360 v2 Elite edition Vista Desktop Theme

Dont want to read and want to go straight to the download click here or here or here. The download contains the theme, instructions to install, Apollos wallpaper and my Elite themed Rocket Dock icons.

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I am Proud to present Version 2 of my Xbox 360 Vista Theme. It is subtitled Elite edition because I chose to use darker colours and it has a few elite pictures thrown in for good measure. It also goes a lot nicer with darker backgrounds and, I feel, is more practical for everyday use.

Ok that’s out the way how about some pictures.

Desktop with new darker taskbar and new orb.

The wallpaper is a creation by Barry aka GT: Apollo T4L. It may look like cgi but is in fact a fantastic photo made by use of Halo 3 figurines. His flickr account with many more wonderful photos can be found here.

Start OrbSince the last theme I re-did all the buttons and the orb to make the edges smoother and less jaggy.

The redesigned orb, shown below, keeps the same concept but is neater and more realistic.

Normal,Hover and Pressed

Start Menu

I have completely redone the start menu, I listened to the biggest gripes and changed the text colours and glows as well as all the panels. It also includes an Xbox Elite behind the programs list.

You may also notice a familiar face in the start menu but we will get onto that in a minute :P.

Frames, Panels and Scrollbars

I have done some work on the windows panels, and preview pane to give them a darker but still practical look and I have also edited windows frames slightly, they have a gradient going down the side, this was chosen to give a darker look but not to interfere with other applications like media player.

Additionally, the close, minimize and maximise buttons have all been redone to make them smoother and less jaggy as well.

DWM aero background

The reflections background,(what you see in the aero parts of vista) has also been redone to include some favourite Xbox 360 characters, including Banjo, Joanna Dark, the Chief, and others.

Taskbar buttons

Finally, for aero at least, I have changed the buttons and the text glow of the taskbar so it is nicer to look at and easier to use.

Normal Button

Hover Button

Pressed button

Active window

Hopefully, you’ll agree that these changes add up to a huge improvement and the theme is now a lot nicer but thats not all, I have also been working on, after many complaints, a basic version of the theme.

Xbox 360 v2 for Vista Basic users

The options for basic are pretty, well….basic given the lack of shadows, aero effect and text glow but I have done my best to make most of it look as close to the original aero theme as possible.

That’s it folks hope you like it.

For skinning beginners I suggest you check here for information on how to set a theme for vista.

Should be said again this is for vista OS and is a tribute to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console so all images used belong to them.